09.08.2026 01:30
The regulation concerning thousands of students who had to interrupt their university education for various reasons has come into effect. As the student amnesty was published in the Official Gazette, a new educational opportunity has arisen for students whose ties with the university were severed or who were placed but could not enroll. Students have been given a 4-month period for applications.
A pardon regulation has come into effect for students whose ties with universities were severed for various reasons, or who were placed in a university but could not register. Students who apply within 4 months will be able to resume their education in the 2026-2027 academic year.
Those who voluntarily severed their ties with the university will also benefit from the regulation. However, those convicted of certain serious crimes, those whose registration was canceled due to fraudulent documents, and those whose ties were severed from certain military and security training institutions are excluded from the scope.
APPLICATION MUST BE MADE WITHIN 4 MONTHS
With the publication of the Law on Higher Education and Amendments to Certain Laws in the Official Gazette, the temporary regulation regarding the student amnesty also came into effect.
Accordingly, students who left universities for various reasons, and those who were placed in a higher education program but could not register, may apply within 4 months from the date the law came into effect to the university from which their ties were severed.
Students whose applications are accepted will be able to continue their education in the 2026-2027 academic year.
WHO WILL NOT BENEFIT?
Those convicted of specific crimes such as terrorism offenses, intentional killing, torture, ill-treatment, sexual assault, sexual abuse of children, and manufacturing or trafficking of narcotics or stimulant substances are excluded from the regulation.
Additionally, students whose registration was canceled due to fraudulent documents, and those whose ties were severed from certain educational institutions within the scope of the Police Academy, Gendarmerie and Coast Guard Academy, and National Defense University, will also not benefit from the student amnesty.
MONETARY FINE FOR HAVING SOMEONE ELSE WRITE A THESIS
The law also introduced new sanctions regarding academic work.
Those who obtain an academic degree or title by having someone else prepare a thesis, article, book, or project may have these degrees and titles revoked. These individuals may also be dismissed from the university teaching profession.
Those who prepare academic work for someone else or act as intermediaries will face a judicial fine ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 days. If the act is committed as a profession, the fine may increase from 10,000 to 20,000 days.
PRISON FOR UNAUTHORIZED UNIVERSITY ACTIVITIES
A prison sentence of 2 to 4 years is envisaged for those who open or operate associate, undergraduate, or graduate programs in Turkey on behalf of a foreign educational institution contrary to legislation.
Those who open or operate a higher education institution in Turkey contrary to legislation will also face the same penalty. Those who advertise these institutions may be subject to 1 to 3 years of imprisonment.
STAGED SANCTIONS FOR FOUNDATION UNIVERSITIES
The regulation also rearranged sanctions for foundation higher education institutions.
Staged sanctions may be applied, ranging from a warning to reducing student quotas, from preventing the opening of new programs to temporarily suspending the operational license and completely revoking the operational license.
The administration of a foundation university whose operational license is temporarily suspended may be transferred to the guarantor university or to a public university in the same province designated by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK).
UNIVERSITY NAME CHANGED
With the regulation, the name of Kahramanmaraş İstiklal University was also changed to "İstiklal University of Science and Technology." Some faculties and vocational schools within the university were affiliated with Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University.
The law came into effect upon its publication in the Official Gazette.